Revenue stream: UMass hedges its bets, hoping research can be its cash cow
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AMHERST - The University of Massachusetts spent a record $489 million on research last fiscal year, but UMass officials are already predicting next year's spending will blow that figure away.
This is good news for a university that has so much riding on research.
UMass is aiming to increase its research output, grants received and related spin-off businesses and research development to bolster the university's esteem nationally and internationally.
The outside funding is also a significant source of revenue for the university at a time when state support for public education is waning.
In fiscal year 2009, 12 percent of UMass Amherst's operating budget revenue ($106 million) was derived from research grants. Massachusetts tax dollars covered about 26 percent of that year's budget.
In addition to supporting research, grants can purchase equipment, pay for portions of a faculty member's salary and hire research assistants.
"For the university, it's an integral part," said Michael Malone, vice chancellor for research and engagement. "There are many fine universities that aren't research universities, but this is our model."
UMass research plays a key role in a new branding initiative, "This is UMass. This is next," meant to attract students, recruit faculty and aid in fundraising. Commercial material on the university's new brand can be seen at www.umass.edu/next/.
On the Amherst campus, Malone has outlined a strategy to enhance the flagship's ability to bring in research dollars and otherwise improve the campus's national stature through research.
Strategy details include more faculty and professional support staff, a new science building (already in the planning phase), professional development in grant writing and research licensing, as well as a new institute dedicated to connecting UMass innovation and product development.
If UMass does not make this effort, the university cannot hope to rise among the nation's elite research institutions, Malone said.
UMass ranks well compared to the nation's research universities, but falls below average when compared to the Association of American Universities, an elite group of 62 leading American and Canadian research universities.
"If we keep doing what we're doing, we won't go anywhere unless someone else collapses," Malone said during the last meeting of the Faculty Senate. "We need to accelerate growth to gain in the rankings."
Meanwhile, research spending at the university and the flagship have grown significantly in the last five years.
"Research is an important component for any major university," said UMass President Jack M. Wilson in a statement. "Research expands the boundaries of human knowledge and also fuels economic growth."
Enter the research
The five-campus UMass system brought in $54 million more in grants in fiscal year 2009 compared to fiscal year 2008, according to the UMass president's office.
With the addition of stimulus funding, when the books are closed on this year, officials predict the university's research awards will tower over last year's record-high. UMass has already won $92 million in research funding provided through the federal stimulus bill this fiscal year.
Most of the research that takes place at UMass is externally funded, with federal agencies providing nearly 60 percent of the university's research funding.
"Certainly, you can speculate that our research expenditures for FY10 and beyond will continue to grow for a number of reasons," said Robert P. Connolly, spokesman for the UMass president's office. "The infusion of research funds (through the stimulus) is a major facet in that regard."
Research spending on the Amherst campus has grown by almost 20 percent over the last five years, with $160 million spent on research in fiscal year 2009. Of this sum, 66 percent was given to faculty as grants.
Most research money at UMass Amherst is spent on life sciences and engineering, with 34 percent of funding going to the life sciences and 31 percent to engineering research. Other major research dollar spenders are in the physical sciences and computer sciences.
Malone wants to see the percentage of federal research grants to UMass double. Because federal grant applications to agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation are peer-reviewed, winning them speaks well for the university.
"If they say it's worth doing, that places a greater value on the research," he said.
About 6.5 percent of the flagship's operating budget revenue is derived from federal grants, but Malone would like to see them rise to 11-12 percent of budget revenues.
And he has a plan to accomplish this.
UMass will provide more workshops and symposia to train researchers in seeking and winning grants. To handle the increase in faculty research, two more staff members will be hired to ensure research is being done in compliance with federal standards.
A new $144 million laboratory science building is moving toward the end of its design phase and is scheduled to open in 2012. The building, to be constructed near the new Integrated Science Building, is being designed to foster collaboration amongst researchers.
The building will help address the campus's need for improved science facilities- a campus drawback that may have sandbagged some grant awards. According to a 2007 UMass survey, fewer state-of-the-art facilities mean fewer federal research grants. UMass has been adding science facilities since it embarked on a building boom in the 2000s.
Some of Malone's plan still needs to be implemented.
Hiring more faculty for the sciences is under way, with 21 faculty searches for all campus departments approved for this year.
He has also proposed the creation of an "innovation institute," a wholly owned but separate legal entity that would assist faculty with obtaining grants and contracts unrelated to fundamental research.
Malone said such institutes are common at research universities and would better connect UMass research with businesses willing to invest in research development. UMass does work with businesses to create marketable items from faculty research, but because it is a public institution the university cannot provide all the privacy agreements an investing business may require, Malone explained. The university may also decline to pursue some research that may not benefit students, but could lead to business ventures.
Funding and a business plan for the institute are still being analyzed, Malone said. It is still in the concept phase and would need further approval to move forward.
"There's development work that may not be good research for students, but could make a product," he said. "There's a bit of overlap with that now. I think this is a way to accelerate innovation."
